Looks like Gonchar is going to hit the market today too – that could complicate the bidding for Paul Martin and Volchenkov a little….(different types of D-man i know, but if you’ve got $5-6m to spend who do you take a run at?)

Get us a quality backup goaltender, a physical stay at home defenceman, 2 top line scorers (1 already being Gaborik) and let all of the rest of the roster be made up of the kids competing for jobs. Let the best kids play and they will be hungry. Keep Prust and Shelley.

I’d actually have no problem with Modano coming in cheap to be a 4th line center, PP guy, and filling the veteran leadership role that we lack with Drury, Redden, Rozy, etc. Sort of filling the role of Shanny and Fankist (if he’s gone). Cally is good but young. Gabby doesn’t lead for crap.

July 1st is a big day in my field. New academic year starts today. New resident doctors, new medical students. Won’t be able to spend much time at the computer. Make sure the genius doesn’t do anything dumb. And wicky, or Linda, text me if anything substantial happens anywhere today. Thanks. LGR!!

so then only sign Stall for 4 more years and let him go because by then he has peaked…27 is prime…6 years 8 mil per…the guy has heart and I think he should in the playoffs that he cares, plus he’s built like a Brick Kremlin, guess the movie reference!!

This is sick, but there’s a part of me that hopes someone hits Staal with an offer sheet so maybe it’ll teach Sather to stop dragging his feet resigning our RFAs. We’re always the last the resign and I hate the wait. I hear about the other teams resigning their RFAs before July 1 and I feel like the only kid at the ice cream truck who doesn’t have a cone…because my parents are on the welfare. And I can’t have none. Want a lick? Psych.

I’m sure there are perfectly sound business decisions as to why Sather waits to sign (because he’s so good with money), but it doesn’t help me get my ice cream.

Particularly when you consider that guys like Kovalchuk enter the league when they’re 18-19 years old. Having, 8 or 9 seasons of wear and tear on your body start to take toll let alone when they’re pushing a dozen years in the league by the time they hit 30.

Again, I’m not saying that after 27/28/29 these guys fall off a cliff, but to expect them to get better after that age is defying historical trends. Most of the top scorers in the league this year were 30 and under and in the case of guys like Crosby/Ovechkin/Malkin they’re even under 25.

Like I said, Kovalchuk can probably put up a couple of 40 goal seasons when he’s 30/31, but to expect him to hit 50, especially with only one world class player as complimentary talent (who would probably play on a different line at 5 on 5 and isn’t a center) is a bit of a stretch.

I don’t think we should be bending over backwards for Girardi, the guy is an average at best NHL defenseman. If he wants too much, see ya Danny. I won’t miss your awful positioning and 3 body checks in 3 seasons.

And I gotta say, I have a feeling Sather will do something that we either love or hate, there will be no in-between today. Is there ever on July 1st with him?

Orr’s knees were shot
Lemieux had Hodgkin’s lymphoma and back injuries
Gretzky was still a freak after 25
the man had 130 points at 33, 102 at 35 and 97 at 37 and 90 at 39…come on those are killer #’s! maybe not for Gretzky but any one of us would love to have those #’s froma Ranger.

if Kovy averages 35 goals per year you wouldnt take that? Who else on this team can do that…Not even Gaborik can say that because of his health issues…

Obviously a “down” year for Gretzky still ranks high in the scoring charts, but that’s my point. He was still great, but not as great as his Oilers heyday.

And yes, Lemieux and Orr were very injury prone, but again the main idea is that even an elite athlete’s resiliency doesn’t improve with age.

Plenty of other sports see their best players peak by their late 20’s, you’re starting to see that in baseball where since the clean up of rampant PED usage (I’m not going to stick my head in the sand, I know it still exists just without the same proliferation as the 90’s) the better players are 30 and younger. A few years back Curtis Martin became the oldest rushing yards champion at age 30. Many of the top players at this year’s World Cup are in their early to mid 20’s. Especially with the way that salaries are structured and the need to optimize production from their younger players, hockey is becoming no different.

As much as I agree about Girardi, he still is better than the 2 R’s and comes cheaper. McIlrath is at least a year away, and after Delzotto and Staal there is nothing much. Volchenkov would be a good signing IMHO…

He’s not the best ever, but he’s the best ever to become available as a free agent, at this stage of his career. Like I said yesterday, other greats will become free agents but will likely not be “truely” available; they will be locked up in their prime by their current teams.

Let’s consider a couple of things:

Will he, even with this roster, bring a few more wins?………easily. Maybe we don’t have to flirt with the last week of the season, let alone the last game to make the playoffs. And yes, I want playoff hockey even if it’s only to gain experience for the young guys – racing improves the breed.

Do we have anyone on the roster or any prospects that can reasonably be expected to develop into someone remotely close to his ability?………not a chance.

How many times last season did we all say this team lacks talent and can’t score? How many times did it seem Hank had to pitch a shutout for the Rangers to have a chance at a win?……Kovy instantly changes that.

Torts wants to play a style that this team can’t play. Here’s your horse coach.

Could be a once in a generation opportunity. Rangers would be stupid not to at least explore the possibility.

CT the general rule is that most athletes will peak between 25 and 35. Obviouisly wear and tear has an effect on some players and can cause them to drop off a little earlier, especially those who have had an early start to their big league careers. For every Orr there is a Messier (99 points age 35!).

Positions like Goalie can be classed a little differently as their job is more mental and reactions based and those things get better with practice, although it still relies on some athelticism a goalie can easily be at his peak in his mid-late 30’s.

exactly my point…he is a stud and that is the type of player you pay big $$$ for…not the reddens and fleury’s and all the other disasters this team has thrown money at…he is a top player who would upgrade this team and with him gaborik and Hank you build around them…

I for one, would be pissed if they shipped Avery out. He’s effective, plain and simple. Plus, he can skate, score goals, and throw the best players(Kovalchuk included) off their game. You need guys like that. Though… with AA, Grachev seemingly almost ready, Stepan, Krieder, and assuming Prust/Shelley come back… the stable is pretty full, and where would Avery fit?

I think 10 years is a bit too wide of a range for athletic careers. And while I admit that players are certainly capable of putting up a season or two of great production after they turn 30, but to expect them to consistently improve upon or even maintain what they do at 23-28 is unlikely. Without some sort of “enhancements” the inflection point in their productivity occurs.

It’s simply the way salaries are structured these days in many sports. The teams control the players for the majority of their peak years and then as an FA you find other players to pay for their historical production and not necessarily their future potential.

Actually, make that Biron signing a just a shade under $900K per year.
less than 10 seconds ago via web .Marty Biron’s deal with the Rangers is expected to be for two years at just less than $1 million per year.